Meditate

Ang pag-usad ni minsa'y di katiyakan ng pag-unlad. Bagkus ito'y senyales lamang ng pag-kilos tungo sa direksyong maaring patungo saan mang direksyong tahakin na ang baseha'y dikta ng puso't isipan. Ang pag-unlad ay kabiyak ng pag-lago na ang basehan ay ang pagnanais maabot ang rurok na maaring maabot ng isang potensyal......minsan ito'y maari ring marating sa pananatiling payapa, tahimik, at sa di pag-kilos.



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Interesting

This is just a random photo dump of pics that I found from the internet that tickled my fancy.

1.)  Found this from a website that unfortunately I cannot remember anymore.  I don't know who took this photo but there's credits on the lower right portion of the pic.  I just find this adorable :)

2.)  These I saw at http://cameralink.com/photographers/denise-grunstein.  I just love the whole feel of the photos.  They give off that twisted storybook aesthetic that I love. 

3.)  And finally, some cute little monsters!  I LOVE the masks!  Cute!

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Actually.....

Sometimes you just have to develop a very thick hide if you want to remain sane.  You cannot let every negative thing that you see or negative comment that you hear affect you. 

You must learn when to open yourself up and when to close the gates down. 

It's always up to you to filter the times when you can be vulnerable and when to raise your wall up to shield yourself from those which you deem might hurt you.

In the end, it always falls on you what you choose to take in and what you let slide.



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Green Grass

They say that the grass is always greener on the other side, or so it may seem.  Sometimes in our lives, we reach a point, specially during problematic times that we think that our lives suck and that we want to exchange places with another person who seems to have gotten the longer end the stick.

I can't count how many times I've said:  I wish I were that person or that person is very lucky and I wouldn't mind trading lives with him/her.  I know that it's not healthy to compare yourself with others because it would only be a cause of frustration and that the only guage that should be used to rate success is the personal feeling of fulfillment.  Ideally, this should be the case, but unfortunately as flawed human beings, who live within the context of a society, we cannot help but view ourselves juxtaposed with others and find several points of comparisson.  It is inevitable.  As social beings, our views of oursleves will always be in relation with how we view others. 

So how do I go about it when I find myself comparing my life with others and sometimes wanting to trade places with them?

This is my realizition:
I may sometimes want to exchange places with another person because it may seem that they have better lives , but on the other hand, there's also other persons out there who want to trade places with me because they think that my life is better than theirs.

It's just a matter of perspective.

I realized that the grass is not necessarily always greener on the otherside.

I may view the grass on the other side as greener but, there's also another person who thinks that the grass on my side is greener.

I may sometimes feel that my life sucks, but another person out there sees it differently and thinks that I'm very blessed.

I just have to borrow that other person's perspective and see the good things in my life.

This is how I learned to appreciate my life no matter what, and see that the grass on my side is green and it's enough.



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We are all Meat

If I would decide to be a vegetarian, It wouldn’t be because I believed that eating animals is wrong.  I don’t think that eating animals is a form of cruelty because if this is the case, then God wouldn’t have created carnivorous creatures.  He wouldn’t have given some animals instincts to eat other animals.  Eating animals is just a part of the natural order of things, the food chain.  Just watch any other nature show and see how lions hunt and you will see how nature really works. It’s all about survival and the balance of nature i.e. the natural order of things.  I am however against the inhumane treatment of animals.  Foie gras tastes good, but I decided to stop eating it because I don’t believe in the ways that they utilize i.e. force feeding ducks to make their livers fat.  I am also against using fur for clothes because we have the technology to create other forms of fabrics from other sources like plants  and synthetic fibres.  Maybe in the past when our ancestors have no other means for warmth, is killing animals for fur acceptable, but now, fur should belong back to animals and not to humans.  I am also against testing cosmetics on animals.  They shouldn’t pay for man’s quest for artificial beauty. I am however still weighing my opinion regarding testing medical products on animals. If it would be the way to cure cancer, aids and other currently incurable diseases and there are really no other means to reach that goal other than testing it on animals, I might consider it if it would save millions of lives.  I respect vegans for choosing not to eat and use animal products because of their compassion, but I don’t think that I would be a monster if I choose to eat animals.  I would just be like the lion, trying to sustain my body’s needs for nutrition.  If they are really animal lovers, would they call lions evil for eating other animals? It’s just the natural order of things, or if you would want to go Disney  on it, It’s THE CIRCLE OF LIFE.  After all, when we die, we would also be food for worms and bacteria……WE ARE ALL MEAT.


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Reasonable Faith

I just don’t understand how some people can be so dogmatic that they close their minds to a point of being unreasonable. Do our beliefs sometimes hinder us from true understanding? Some people justify their close mindedness in the name of “faith.” They say when reason ends, faith begins…But I think that our faith should be reasonable. It shouldn't be based on some crazy fanatics notion of what he thinks is right. Our God is a God of reason. We can see this by looking at the order in the universe. Each and every part of our universe is inter-related. Everything fits to make a perfectly working world. They even say that our existence is a perfect mathematical equation down to the last one and zero. I mean the world is just a refection of it’s maker, a Being of intellect and reason. It should be that we should also strive to follow suit and make our beliefs reflect that which we believe in or in this case He/She Whom we believe in.


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The other side

They say that the EARLY bird catches the worm, but on the other hand, you could also postulate that the LATE worm evades being caught by the early bird. So which is better, being early or being late? It's just a matter of perspective.


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Hope

Sometimes, you are presented with situations way beyond your control, where you feel utterly powerless about the outcome of things.  You wait and wait for everything to be better but it's like driving on a foggy highway with zero visibility.  You wish to see even a slight glimmer, but you only see darkness ahead.  What do you do?

Here's my answer:  As much as I am tempted to sulk around and feel bad about my situation, I try really really really hard to think positive.  Hope will be my saving grace.  The night is always darkest before dawn.  Soon enough the sun will smile at me and everything will be OK.


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Expecting the unexpected

There's a saying: "Expect the Unexpected."

It got me thinking. If I expect the unexpected, then does this make the unexpected expected since I expected it?

If this is so, then this saying cancels itself out.  If something unexpected is expected, then it makes the unexpected expected.


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Non-Choice

Even if I choose not to decide, I still have made a choice. So my choosing not to decide is in reality still a decision not to make any decisions. So I still made a decision and still made a choice even if I categorically have chosen and decided no too.

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Visual Candy

These are the videos that are currently on heavy rotation in my youtube playlist. I just love the whole feel of these videos. The visuals totally fit my sensibilities and the emotions that they impart tickle my soul.

Final Distance by Utada Hikaru
This has been my most favorite video for a few years already and no other video has caught my fancy enough to replace it's position.



Dog days are over 2010 version by Florence and the Machine
The beats just make my heart go thump thump.



Perfume by Voice
This is just the cutest video that I've ever seen. Makes me smile everytime I watch it.



Cigarettes will Kill You - Australian version by Ben Lee
Ben Lee gives off that offbeat geek vibe...I can so relate :)




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Namedroppers schnamedroppers phooooew!

I hate it when people namedrop or use other people's names to make it seem that they belong to the crème de la crème.  It just validates that they themselves don't see the merit of their own person.  It shows that they don't think that they are enough and that they need to point out their connection to certain people just to make it seem that they matter.  It's just pitiful.


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Patience!

It's hard to be patient sometimes, but there are just some situations that are totally out of our hands.  There are some events that we have totally no control of whatsoever.  The only thing to do is wait and see what will happen.  There's no point in fussing about it because no matter how much we stress ourselves, the outcome would still be something beyond our influence.


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Nuthin

I'm not the kind of artist that paints trees, waterfalls, rice fields and all that scenery stuff just so that people would like my work.  I don't even like using one medium.  I'm more of an express that emotion in a graphic way in mixed media kind of guy.  I'm more of the "I paint for myself and no one else and I don't care if you like it or hate it."  I'm still sort of part of the "idealistic youth" who live in dreams, only remove the youth part coz I may be young at heart, but I don't think I fall in that category anymore agewise.

I paint like this:

But as time goes by, as I was tought by time and circumstance, I realized that sometimes you have to be practical.  Okay, so it's really un-artist-like to sacrifice art in the name of practicality but in real life, most artists really do starve. 

This is the reason why I didn't choose art to be my cash cow in life, because I don't want to desecrate my art.  I have a day job and only do my art for self satisfaction and not as a means of income.

I don't want to sell out.

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Spirituality

I think the greatest adversary of organized religion is the thinking mind.  But this is not entirely bad because God wouldn't have given us the capacity for reason if he didn't intend for us to use it.  I'm glad people are becoming aware that they could ask questions about their religion, inquire and not just believe because someone said so.  Great faith comes from great belief, and true believing is the fruit of a mind that understands the wisdom behind what they believe in.

I'm glad we are becoming aware that people have different beliefs and try to RESPECT these, otherwise "zealots" would still be burning people on the stake accused of practicing beliefs other than theirs or stoning people to death just because they "sinned".........oh yeah on some parts of the world they still do that.  ON SOME PARTS of the world, yes, but fortunately, a greater majority is starting to become enlightened.

I for myself believe in ONE UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE that is the heart of true spirituality, and this is LOVE.  Unconditional Love, that which comes from the desire for everyone's well being.  Love for God (or a Supreme Being, in whatever form as long as This Being is the embodiment of Love), Love for one's neighbor, Love for one's self and Love for all creation.

For me, Religion is not neccessarily synonymous to Spirituality.  Religion is more based on RIGID rules and rituals as opposed to Spirituality, which is more of an expression of one's desire to be with the profound.

Sometimes religion becomes a deterrent to true spirituality because it causes scism, debates, fights and even great wars.  Just look back on mankinds history and you will see wars waged in the name of their respective gods believing that they are the only source of truth. 

Atrocious acts commited being justified by closed minded people thinking that what they do is right.  Usurpation of power and wealth, political machinations, murder and even genocide, these were the themes of the religious wars in the past, and on some degree is what is also happening in some parts of the world today.  All of this in the name of their belief that their religion holds the monopoly of truth. 

I'm wondering what God thinks about all of this.  I don't think that [He-She] is pleased.

I think that God would be more pleased with a sincere heart that Loves, Respects and seeks Peace as opposed to a denomination that thinks that they hold the monopoly of truth and do acts to assert their beliefs which results in harming others.

True spirituality is LOVE LOVE LOVE!

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Guilt

The feeling of guilt is not something negative.

It is a clear sign of having moral fiber.

Remorse for acts that we committed that we view as unjust to ourselves or some other entity is healthy if  acted upon with clear intentions.

Guilt opens the door for forgiveness and retrubution.....if and only if we decide to do the right thing in the end.


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Realization

I'm on a pensieve mood today.

I just realized that God allowed some of the trials in my life to somewhat break me, so that he could rebuild and renovate my spirit to become a better version of itself.

I may act like I'm just easily soaring over life's hurdles, but my inner dimension is like a deep abyss with millions of ripples dancing on the surface.

I'm a very introspective person, sometimes even too critical with myself, my environment, and on how I interact with my environment.  Mix this analytical attitude with a well developed sense of empathy and the product would be a big ball of raw nerves - feeling, thinking, feeling and thinking, thinking and feeling ad infinitum.

It's a two edged sword.

On one hand, it is very helpful for personal development.  On the other hand, in excess, it could lead you towards the road to insanity.  (Well, being an artistic person, I think I'm partially crazy anyway because this is what makes me think about outrageous out of the box ideas and principles that would make people say "he's such a weirdo" and this monicker is a welcomed one because I'd rather be coined weird than boring as dirt) - ok now back to the program....

I'm just thankful that God gave me the capacity to harness His gift of an introspective mind with an empathic heart because through this, I'm slowly but definitely on my way to be the person I'm meant to be, which is a refleciton of the seed of God's image placed within everyone's being.

Trials may hurt me more than the usual because I think and feel more than what is usual as well, but for me, this also opens a wider door towards greater healing if welcomed with an open mind and heart.

So far so good.  I'm glad that the storms I encountered didn't uproot me but moreso challenged me to let my roots sink deeper.  I'm solid, as of now.......

Blank

I wasn't able to write about anything the past weeks because a lot of things are happenning in my life, and I can't seem to catch up and sort out the stuff that I want to focus on and write about.

I'm not really overwhelmed, I'm just physically tired at the end of each day and I can't muster enough drive to force my brain to spew out ideas worth sharing.

There's a scarcity of interesting "brain farts" lately.

I don't want to force myself to write just for the sake of meeting my challenge to myself that I would try to write everyday.

I don't want blogging to be a chore.

Anyways, I'm doing this for me and I don't think it would be penultimately fruitful for my being to force myself to write even if not really in the mood to.

I want this process to be enjoyable, and that's just basically it!



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These koi are not coy (pun intended)

I'm too lazy to write anything today so I decided to just post some photos I took earlier this year.

I call this series  "These koi are not coy (pun intended)"

Think Positive!

Ok, so I'm studying a new language (finnish/suomea), which is a fairly difficult language to learn if you are used to english grammar since there are a lot of differences in their sentence construction.

My basic motivation in trying to learn as fast as I could is that I know that it would be very useful to at least know the basics before I go finland.

How do I condition my brain to be receptive?  I try to make it as enjoyable for me as possible, considering the fact that at the end of every class, I feel as though my head is throbbing, filled to the brim with crammed knowledge. I just try to look at it with rose colored glasses, being thankful that in 3 weeks time, there is a considerable amount of quantifiable progress in my studies.

I just try to have a positive attitude about it by focusing on my goals instead on noticing the hurdles that I have to go through along the way. 

Always think positive!


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